Don’t blame your shareholders for tax avoidance decisions, Farrer & Co report warns FTSE 100 bosses

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Company directors facing scrutiny over their low corporate tax bill are not able to effectively blame their decisions on their duty to shareholders, a Farrer & Co legal opinion sent to FTSE 100 companies has said.

The opinion, sent yesterday (9 September) to the chief executives of the UK’s largest companies, was commissioned by the Tax Justice Network and concludes that ‘the idea of a strictly “fiduciary” duty to avoid tax is wholly misconceived’. The TJN, which circulated the opinion, was prompted by fears that UK business leaders are justifying their decision to find tax loopholes on the need to maximise profits for shareholders.

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Compliance drive – BLP’s financial services partner joins Barclays investment arm as EMEA head

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As leading retail and investment banks bolster their internal compliance functions it has emerged that Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) financial services partner Nick Kynoch has joined Barclays Investment Bank as the head of regulatory compliance for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The hire comes after Hector Sants, former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, joined Barclays in December to the newly-created role of head of compliance and government and regulatory relations, overseeing all compliance activities across Barclays, meaning for the first time all compliance staff within the bank report to one individual and operate independently of business and regional management teams. Continue reading “Compliance drive – BLP’s financial services partner joins Barclays investment arm as EMEA head”

Finance: Slaughters, Cravath and De Brauw secure Shell DCM work as Irwin Mitchell wins Wells Fargo as new client

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European corporates are showing greater reluctance than last year to tap into the debt capital markets but Royal Dutch Shell this week issued a triple-tranche $3.75bn bond with Slaughter and May; Cravath, Swaine & Moore and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek at the helm.

Slaughter and May’s finance partner Matthew Tobin and tax partner William Watson led a team advising on the issue of five-year, ten-year and 30-year fixed rate notes, which were issued by Shell International Finance and guaranteed by Royal Dutch Shell, which plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes. Continue reading “Finance: Slaughters, Cravath and De Brauw secure Shell DCM work as Irwin Mitchell wins Wells Fargo as new client”

Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale

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The Government’s plan to take the Student Loans Company debt off its balance sheet has moved up a gear as firms have formally been invited to tender for the role as legal advisor in the sale of the company’s £40bn loan portfolio.

Announced last Friday (26 July), the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has invited tenders for legal advice on the monetisation of the SLC’s loans portfolio, which at the end of the 2012/13 financial year was valued at approximately £45bn. The precise structure of the monetisation is still being considered but it is likely to be either through a sale to the private sector or a securitisation. Invited firms have until 23 August to submit their bids. Continue reading “Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale”

Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles

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Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters’ table of legal advisers on global debt and equity capital markets work for the first half of 2013, landing roles on 456 deals.

The Magic Circle firm came out in first place for both manager and issuer roles, advising on 350 and 106 deals respectively.

Clifford Chance, which held the top spot this time last year for issuer roles, has fallen into second position followed by US rivals Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in third, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in fourth and Sidley Austin in fifth. Linklaters came in joint eighth position, down from fifth place at the half year in 2012, however for manager roles it claimed second place, advising on 234 deals. Continue reading “Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles”

Smoke, mirrors and grease – government signals review of controversial Bribery Act

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It was the most controversial piece of legislation aimed at corporates to emerge in the last decade and, in a slow news week at least, the Bribery Act is still generating headlines amid signals that the government is flirting with watering down the anti-corruption law.

A report in the Financial Times indicates that a review of the act is likely to be announced in July following recommendations from the so-called ‘Star Chamber’ – a government working party hunting the Snark that is cutting red tape. Continue reading “Smoke, mirrors and grease – government signals review of controversial Bribery Act”

FSA slaps Pru with £30m fine before its split

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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) handed out its last penalty before being split up after fining companies in the Prudential Group (Prudential) a total of £30m.

According to the watchdog, the fine relates to Pru’s failure to inform the regulator that it was seeking to acquire AIA, the Asian subsidiary of AIG, in early 2010.

Stephenson Harwood and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer landed roles advising on the fine.

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Generation game

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International wealth preservation and succession planning is now a core component of most successful private client practices. Legal Business assesses how far firms will go to keep it in the family

If innovation is a measure of how competitive London’s private client market has become, then the contest for top spot has only intensified over the past year. With London seen as a safe haven for many of the world’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), the question for the capital’s leading private client practices is how to develop an edge over the competition. Strategies include international expansion, rare lateral hires, and offering entirely new service lines – all illustrating that private client lawyers have needed to adapt to a swiftly evolving and increasingly global market.

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Insolvency teams line up on high-profile failures

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With HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster all entering into administration in the first few weeks of 2013, leading City firms have scored significant instructions.

Linklaters is involved in the administration of HMV, with restructuring and insolvency partners Richard Hodgson and Richard Bussell taking the lead. Linklaters had also been advising the lenders, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, to HMV Group since the beginning of 2011 and banking partner Chris Howard continues to advise the lenders. Continue reading “Insolvency teams line up on high-profile failures”

No let up for Libor claims as FSA issues record fines

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With the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issuing a record £300m of total fines in the UK in 2012, up from £65.5m in 2011, litigation teams in the City are predicting a further surge in banking litigation in 2013 thanks to the Libor scandal.

Barclays’ fine of £59.9m in June was dwarfed by UBS’ £160m fine in December. Clifford Chance and Sullivan & Cromwell were brought in to advise Barclays, while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised UBS in both the US and the UK.

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